PoliticalTalk

Are Illegal Immigrants Going to Contribute to the Future of America?

What many pundits, economists and politicians aren't telling you is that America is going to need more workers in the future to keep the American Dream alive and to pay for the services Americans have come to expect from its government. Only with steady population growth can you fund the intergenerational transfer programs like Social Security and Medicare. Big and growing countries have more power and opportunity only if they keep growing.

So while, I support a secure border and a sane illegal immigration reform plan, I think we have to look at the whole picture in coming up with a system that will work. Present day snapshots of the services used and the work done by illegal immigrants can't give us the whole picture. As generations of immigrants come, live and produce new generations of American workers, we must take a look at what happens to the productivity of these second and third generation offspring of these immigrants.

Recent research by sociologists and economists have discovered some positive progress. Since education is strongly correlated with future income, that is a good place to start. Children of immigrants complete more years of education than their native-born socioeconomic counterparts. It seems that being a child of an immigrant boosts your drive; they want to better themselves and their family.

Hans P. Johnson, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, breaks down the impact on Mexican immigrants, "For the largest immigrant group--that is Mexicans and Mexican-Americans--that picture is progress, but still lagging behind other Americans. They're doing much better than their parents, graduation from high school, but they still have very low graduation rates from college. Fortunately, they have no trouble finding jobs. One of the paradoxes of the Mexican immigrants is that you have these workers with low skills but incredibly high employment rates." 

There is no question that, on the average, Indian, Korean and Chinese immigrants do far better in climbing the rings of American opportunity, but Mexican immigrants are making progress. It is rare that a second or third generation offspring does not speak English as their primary language of choice.

Second generations of immigrant families are managing to climb the skills ladder as well. A recent survey by the Census Bureau reveals that 40 percent of the female workers and 37 percent of the male workers in the second generation took professional or management positions. That is up from 30 and 24 percent, respectively, in the first generation.

It could very well be that with a better immigration reform systems in place, we will finally have a secure border. Then we may eventually be glad that so many illegals actually came to this land and have chosen to take their place in our proud mosaic of ancestors who have made America what it is and what it can become.

We have work to do. We need a secure border that can help manage the flow of illegal immigrants AND a sane way for those illegals already in our midst who want to be Americans to earn a path to citizenship. We need workers, and they have already proved that they have come to do just that!

(Source: Daniel Altman, "Immigration Math: It's a Long Story," New York Times, June 18, 2006, Inside the News, p. 4)

President Bush Is Taking the Lead on Immigration Reform

My hat is off to President George Bush for taking the lead for balanced immigration reform. He's taken his vision to America in a prime time talk. His people are pushing for action in both houses of Congress. He's going to the border to make his case visible. Both extremes are yelling, some say it is too harsh and others say it is amnesty at its worst. But for all the screaming, Congress is finally moving towards taking action. Nothing has been done for 15 years ago. and the problem has just grown.

Bush's vision calls for a balanced plan. His message is short on specifics and strong on values. America needs a secure border, and we will do what it takes to stop the flow of illegal aliens. Secondly, we need to get tough on employers and give them to tools to make sure they are higher legally. Finally, we have too many people who are now here who are part of the American mosaic, and we have to find a way to give them a difficult but achievable path to citizenship.

By letting Senators and Congressmen find their own way through the amendment process, by the time we get through a House and Senate reconciliation process we may well have a balanced bill that can make a difference.

We know the final plan will have more border agents, an actual wall where needed, temporary support by the National Guard, and all the tech gadgets they need to secure the border. We also know that there will be a way to identify guest workers and that the numbers allowed may be less than first feared.

Yes, there are problems. The Senate amendment allowing illegal immigrants to count Social Security payments they have contributed prior to becoming citizens may be going too far. The large number of immigrants and family members that the Senate version would allow to become citizens may be far too high. But the need to find a middleground will gradually eliminate some of the worst problems. Until then, let's keep America involved in this important immigration reform plan. Write your letters, make your calls, let your opinions be heard. The heat generated is part of what makes America so great. Let's hope it results in a plan that will make a difference!

Bush Must Take the Lead

Politicians are finally talking about "meaningful" immigration reform but seem stuck in partisan finger-pointing while opportunities for action are being missed.

A wise grandmother once told her wayward grandson, "You can't talk your way out of something you acted your way into!" With illegal immigration, it's years of inaction by both political parties that has left America with a painful, difficult, expensive and growing crisis. Emotions are high, and the stakes are increasing.

The Monday demonstrations promise to bring all kinds of activist groups together clamoring for open borders and amnesty for illegal immigrants. Those waving their Mexican and American flags and making their entitlement demands may think their numbers and "economic impact" are impressing America and influencing politicians. But those same demonstrations are generating resentment in many American citizens. The more illegal immigrants march, the more motivated others are becoming to resist their entitlement demands.

While illegals march, millions of legal immigrants who have been seeking citizenship for years are beginning to speak up. Many professionals and sponsored family members who have entered the United States legally have had to juggle employer letters, work permits, TN visas, H1B permits, labor certification, state wage board approval and a myriad of other challenges in the bureaucratic maze that is America's legal immigration process. Many are forced to hire attorneys and experts to shepherd them through the process. Because of the demonstrations, they're afraid that illegal immigrants will be rushed to the front of the line instead of the back of the line.

Homeland Security, responding to pressure and a mandate to crack down on employers knowingly hiring illegals, raided IFCO Systems, a nationwide manufacturer of crates and pallets. Seven current and former managers were arrested and charged. An additional 1,100 people were also arrested at 40 IFCO sites.

Frustrated with existing guest-worker proposals and their impact on an already shrinking union power base, union leaders are working to secure an alliance with guest-worker programs to ensure that guest workers will have healthcare benefits and higher wages. Such benefits may help blunt the criticism of citizen groups who are tired of paying the bill for meeting the healthcare needs of illegals, but those employers who don't want to pay prevailing wages are not going to want to pay for guest workers' benefits. There are already reports of employers encouraging illegals to come now before any plan can be passed.

There has also been an increase in the number of illegal immigrants coming across the border as a result of promised changes. Seeing the potential of a possible path to citizenship, illegal immigrants already here are encouraging relatives and friends to come now. With the hope of amnesty driving them, illegal immigrants are making crossings in more and more risky ways. There is no reason to believe that the wave of new illegals will decrease without securing the border.

The Minutemen, tired of waiting for Washington to act, have given their own deadline of May 15. They want Washington to act to secure our border, or they will challenge Americans to do more than demonstrate.

At a cost of $150 a foot, the Minutemen promise to fund and build an Israeli-type "wall" on private land as close to the border as possible. The "wall" would include dual fences, ditches, barbed wire, sensors and a center road allowing easy movement by border agents. The more illegals march, the more citizens will send money to make secure borders a reality. Will some still cross the border? Hundreds, instead of millions!

President Bush's approval ratings are at an all-time low. The Katrina relief execution and the slow progress in Iraq have left Americans questioning his leadership skills. Katrina is over; he can't go back to do a retake. We work for progress in Iraq, but America and her allies are increasingly on the sidelines watching a new Iraqi government try to secure an elusive peace in their war-torn country.

By taking the lead on immigration reform, Bush can earn renewed respect. He should support Sen. Bill Frist's Memorial Day deadline for passing a Senate bill. As Bush suggests, mass deportation won't work, unless there is consideration of a way for long-term, contributing illegal immigrants to earn citizenship from the back of the line.

But Bush's call for a "virtual" wall and better enforcement is equally unrealistic. We need a "wall," and if the onslaught of new illegals continues to grow, the National Guard should be stationed at the border until the fences can be constructed. If a "guest worker" plan is passed, keep the heat on employers and deliver on the plan to give everyone secure ID cards and a database to help make legal hiring decisions.

Lead, Mr. President. Americans want action, but include a "wall," or citizens will build one.

(Source: Terry Paulson, PhD, "Bush Must Take the Lead: If not, Americans Will Act on their Own," Opinion Section, Ventura County Star, May 1, 2006)

Entitlement Demonstrations Must Be Resisted

With the promised May 1st demonstrations for amnesty and open borders coming, let’s take a minute to look at the success of recent demonstrations in Europe. In France, they demonstrated for weeks in order to keep guaranteed lifetime employment and to sustain France’s rigid social contract. Those social contracts all but prevent companies from firing workers and have extinguished hiring.

French President Chirac lacked the will to take a stand for the future by saying a strong “No” to the demonstrators. As a result, the unemployment rate for those younger than 25 is likely to remain at the 20% unemployment rate, if not higher. The very people demonstrating, by winning, have all but sealed their own fate.

Thankfully, America never adopted the economic engineering policies that were popular in Europe, but that is not to say that we do not suffer from unchecked entitlements that no one wants Washington to face. In America today, politicians stay in power not by controlling budgets but by delivering more to voters.

Workers from large companies like GM are being hammered by the press and their workers who are demanding the preservation of generous pension and health coverage. Maintaining the benefits ensure that GM can not compete with its foreign competitors not encumbered by the added costs. As a result GM is losing market share going from selling about half of the cars in America to about one quarter today. Although many competitors have factories in the US, the American employees in those factories vote to keep their jobs by staying non-union and resisting prohibitive benefit packages.

If that is not enough of a crisis, think about America’s failure to face the long term costs associated with an under-funded Medicare and Social Security entitlement that promises to take the U.S. government and future generations toward a fiscal abyss. Unwillingness to face the implications of future entitlements is something we all need to face, and we aren’t. We are settling for politics as usual—posturing for November elections instead of coming to a decision on issues that must be faced.

We aren’t dealing with the legal immigrants who have been fighting for citizenship for years. How can we give rights to illegals when we haven’t done a great job of helping those who are here legally? There are millions of people who have entered the USA legally, have work permits, are professionals or been sponsored by family members. They are stuck in red tape and long processing delays. These people have to juggle employer letters, work permits, TN visas, H1B permits, labor certification, state wage board approval and a myriad of other challenges in the bureaucratic maze that is America’s legal immigration process. These people have to hire attorneys and experts to shepherd them through the process. It is these immigrants who ought to be protesting the loudest and who we ought to be helping. In fact, if the illegals go to the back of the line, they ought to be concerned as well. Just because you are in line doesn’t mean you will ever get to the front!

Getting something for nothing has kept the entitlement drive alive and well for decades. They want to establish new “basic rights” or promise more for a “reasonable or “affordable” price…which translates into taking from a few who can afford it and give it to those who will vote if I give them goodies. A free benefit of $3 means that someone has to take $9 from someone else in order to pay your benefit and the bureaucrats needed to make the transfer possible. The shell game can’t last. The illusion that Social Security and Medicare can provide benefits cheaper than investing your own money in responsible private vehicles is ludicrous and dangerous.

Demonstrations in recent months may look good on the news. The media loves to show demonstration footage in order to draw people to the news. They also like to make the impact of such demonstrations greater than they actually are. “The Sleeping Giant Awakes!” “Multiply Tenfold the Thousands of Immigrants and Their Advocates.” “500,000 Latino protestors in LA—It’s Big, It’s Unprecedented!” Is this a movement or a Media Moment? Only the response of Washington politicians will determine that. If they fold to the “overwhelming” voice of the illegals, it will mean more demonstrations and America will never see the end of the entitlement demonstrations—“I want rights!” “I want the right to vote!”

If illegals want to start a true revolution, they shouldn’t send their kids to the streets. Send them back to school to get good grades and a good education so that whether they take those skills back to Mexico or use those skills to help keep America strong, creating responsible models that want a workable compromise is critical. There may be thousands not going to work as part of a Latino demonstration, but if American citizens refused to go to work of hire them for a week, they would find who still has the power in this country. They don’t demonstrate for fear of being labeled bigots, but they are angry. They don’t like entitlements.

The Democrats think they are winning votes. When I see Kennedy and Clinton encouraging demonstrators, I see voters tuning out and turning off. I’m looking forward to November to find out whether, like France, voters want more entitlements or whether they want more personal accountability and workable immigration reform that first closes the border and then creates a difficult but possible path to citizenship for those who want to be citizens. For those Mexicans who are proud of their own country, let’s give them a way to come here for work and return to Mexico to contribute to inventing a new Mexican Dream.

Whatever happens, let’s hope we don’t have a Chirac in Washington!

The French Retreat Should Be a Lesson to the US

Today, President Jacques Chirac caved to weeks of youth and union protests of a law on youth employment that attempted to reform the rigid labor laws that have kept employers from hiring more workers for fear of not being able to fire them once hired.

In an attempt to deal with the 22 percent youth unemployment rate, Chirac had taken the lead to pass a law allowing employers to hire, and if necessary fire new young employees within two years of their employment without having to document why. Even after trying to cut back the time period and compromise by requiring employers to at least express why the employee was fired, the demonstrations continued. Fearing that the students would extend to more costly protests on railroad tracks and highways, Chirac canceled the contested job legislation.

Chirac's decision reinforces the student demonstrations and empowers them to use the same tactic with any further proposed changes. The actions of both are destined to keep France's economy trapped by rigid job laws and benefits that will keep economic growth stagnant.

There are lessons to be learned from France's crisis. Once you give benefits, it is hard to take those benefits away. Entitlement feeds the expectation of further entitlements, not less. Secondly, giving in to public demonstrations and polls only rewards further demonstrations.

America is strong because it manages an important tension of balancing freedoms with regulations in a way that encourages people to put capital at risk in starting companies, hiring employees, and seeking reward for success. When employers can no longer fire employees and the cost of benefits to employees is so great that profits are unlikely, people do not put their money at risk. At that point, the American Dream dies.

We are watching companies go bankrupt trying to maintain pensions and healthcare coverage they can no longer afford. Some politicians want companies to spend more money in providing such benefits; we might learn from the French and avoid such regulations.

We might also realize that no matter how many people take to the streets to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and an open border, American politicians should resist promising entitlements that are too expansive; once passed, such entitlements will not go away. In the long run, we need leaders who can balance the need for reform with the need for long-term viability. We don't need leaders who are liked; we need leaders with the strength of character to do what is right to maintain what has made America strong. Leaders earn respect by taking responsible action. We can only hope that we never face the tough challenges that France now faces.

Decisions on Immigration Must Be Made: Workable Immigration Policy Requires Compromise

America is at a crossroads on the illegal immigration issue. Our politicians are pushing for compromise legislation that both the House and the Senate can approve and the President will sign. Hopefully, they will have the political will to find a sane pathway through this terribly divisive issue.

The extremes are highly visible. We have hundreds of thousands of pro-immigrant demonstrators taking to the streets in a call for less punitive measures. Many of those demonstrators want open borders and amnesty for those already here.

You have an equally committed group of American citizens who support the Minutemen on the border, who want to deport all 12 million illegal immigrants living in America and erect a wall to keep them out for good!

As Congress finally tackles this hot-button issue, Bush continues to call for a viable middle ground, "The immigration debate should be conducted in a civil and dignified way….We should not give in to pessimism. If we work together I am confident we can meet our duty to fix our immigration system and deliver a bill that protects our people, upholds our laws and makes our people proud."

That is the challenge, and such an immigration system is going to upset a lot of people. The hope is that both extremes will be equally disappointed, but the vast majority will celebrate a workable plan that can finally be implemented.

There are key provisions that should be included in any compromise legislation:
To stem the tide of new undocumented workers arriving daily, end the catch-and-release program. If caught, illegal immigrants should be detained and then deported as soon as possible.

Work to secure the border by doubling the current force of 11,300 Border Patrol agents. The Senate has voted to add 2,000 agents next year and 2,400 more annually through 2011. Until forces are adequate, consider the deployment of the National Guard at key access points.

The two-layer fence has worked in limiting terrorism in Israel. It's time to fund the House request to erect a 700-mile, two-layer fence along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. Create a "virtual wall" of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors for other areas.
Add a version of the "guest worker" program that Bush wants for illegal immigrants. Negotiate a plan that most can accept.

Have secure identity cards for guest workers, citizens and legal foreign residents. It's time for conservatives and liberals to get over their fear of a national ID card. We need a reliable way to ensure that people have a legal right to be here, secure jobs, receive services and vote.

Require any employer hiring guest workers to confirm their identity by accessing an updated online guest worker registry with pictures. Employers who did not comply would be subject to civil penalties and fines; repeat offenders would be open to prosecution and up to six months in jail.

Finally, there should be no blanket amnesty. Let's make room for a lengthy pathway to citizenship for those illegal immigrants in our country who want to become "Americans." But I agree with Teddy Roosevelt who insisted that America can have no room for what he called "fifty-fifty allegiance." In a speech made in 1917 he said, "It is our boast that we admit the immigrant to full fellowship and equality with the native-born. In return we demand that he shall share our undivided allegiance to the one flag which floats over all of us." Let's end bilingual education and require English-only ballot. Marching with a Mexican flag in hand in support of open borders should not earn you citizenship! Those who want to work to build the Mexican Dream can come and work here as guest workers, but they should then return to their own country where they can proudly wave their own flags!

With that in mind, include a way for existing illegal immigrants who have settled and worked in America for over six years and who want to become "Americans" to initiate a process that could lead to American citizenship. The path should not be easy, and those who want to be citizens should get in line behind those who have applied legally. To reach citizenship, they would need to prove English proficiency, show an appropriate job and residence history, pass a criminal background check and pay an agreed-upon fine. By requiring six years of residence we could help deter more illegal immigrants from rushing over the border to take advantage of any citizenship opportunities.

Don't give me enforcement only. Don't give me just amnesty or open borders either. Don't make it a felony for good Samaritans to give help to illegal immigrants in need. Do give America a workable immigration system and then act. Bush must lead; Congress must respond with a balanced plan. As Yogi Berra has said, "When you come to the fork in the road, take it." It is time for action in Washington, action that should have taken place years ago.

(Source: Decisions on Immigration Must Be Made: Workable Immigration Policy Requires Compromise," Ventura County Star, April 3, 2006, B-6)

Build a Wall to Stop Illegal Immigration

When I travel the friendly skies on my way to my next presentation, I love to read USA Today, and I also love to take flight time to write posts for my blogs. Fortunately, those two activities often seem to go hand-in-hand. I read in a recent article by Donna Leinwand that there are new hard facts that support the need to deal now with the illegal immigration problem that is facing the Southwest and our country.

We now have 10,000 federal agents who have boosted arrests at our border by over 26% over the last year registering more than 1.14 million arrests. They have funding for building more federal detention cells to handle that increase, but for now local counties are handling the jailing and care of the detainees. Federal reimbursement for the costs incurred is late and woefully inadequate. Arizona border counties spent $23.2 million and were reimbursed for only $731,000. California spent $50 million to arrest, jail, prosecute and defend illegal immigrants; they were reimbursed only $2 million. The federal government is promising to speed up detainee returns to their native countries, but this is slow in coming.

Costs go well beyond law enforcement. US law requires hospitals to treat anyone who needs emergency care even if they are illegal immigrants. Although the exact percentage varies for each county, all border counties report numbers far above the national average of 14.2% who do not have medical coverage. USA Today reports: "The UTEP study found that border counties have some of the highest rates of uninsured patients and that treating illegal immigrants accounts for nearly one-quarter of the uncompensated costs at the counties' hospitals."

The garbage problem is pervasive. These counties have to clean up for those entering the country illegally, and again they are stuck with the bill.

It's time for action. The cost is too great.

I've seen a security wall make a big difference in Israel. It could make a difference here. Yes, it might cost $8 billion to do it, but it would be a good investment. It would stop the bleeding the hordes of illegal immigrants creates. It would also protect those same immigrants from increasingly dangerous crossings.

Once this is done, we can look at what to do with possible guest worker options. But we need to start with bold action. Maintaining the status quo is not acceptable.

(Donna Leinwand, "Loose borders saps county coffers," USA Today, 3-8-06, 3A)